


A Warning Sign

by spacehopper



Category: Deus Ex (Video Games)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sharing a Bed, Shower Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-08 18:07:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15935573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacehopper/pseuds/spacehopper
Summary: A crash in the Alps, and Jim's left with Jensen as his sole ally in a fight against forces he’s only beginning to understand. And with Adam, a man he’s coming to care for far more than he should, even as the world crumbles around them.





	A Warning Sign

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DreadlordTally](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreadlordTally/gifts).



Jensen was on edge, and Jim couldn’t blame him. He was sitting crunched up against the door of the VTOL, head in hands, fingers digging into his scalp. More than once Jim opened his mouth to say…something. To ask if he was okay, to ask how he was okay, with the world falling apart around them. They hadn’t talked about London, beyond the required debriefing. Hadn’t had time. The second they’d gotten back to Prague, shit hit the fan like it always did. An uprising in Golem, some Dvali going rogue, and now this damn pointless meeting in Rome, of all places. With the order coming for Jim and Jensen specifically, straight from Manderley himself.

The VTOL shook, battered by the storm outside, and Jensen finally looked up. He hadn’t said much since they’d gotten on the VTOL. He’d just sat in his chair, staring out the window, eye shields reflecting Jim’s own worry back at him. He didn’t use them much anymore, when they were alone. Mostly, Jim tried not to think about why. Tried to ignore that desperate, squirming hope in his chest when Adam smiled at him, forgot himself and said Jim. Bloody ridiculous, to be pining at his age. 

But he was only human, so he watched Jensen. The way he kept checking his augs, retracting the blade, doing who knew what else that Jim couldn’t see. How the corners of his mouth were tight, and the slight furrowing in his brow. He wasn’t tense, not the way Jim was. Though whether that was the augs, or just years of stoic focus, he hadn’t a clue. But it didn’t stop Jim from wanting to reach out. Ask what was wrong, like Adam was…a friend. Not his subordinate.

Things had changed since London, but they hadn’t changed enough.

“You know, we should get a drink when we get back,” Jensen said, startling Jim out of his thoughts. He hadn’t retracted the eye shields, but he was looking at Jim now, leaning forward with his arms resting on his legs. 

“That assumes we make it back.” His heart sped up, excitement warring with frustration. Not the fucking time, and even if it’d been meant that way, it wasn’t going to happen. 

“Didn’t think you were this much of a pessimist, sir.” That old sass, but friendlier than before. And wasn’t that the problem.

“I feel like we’re being set up,” Jim said. Not use in pretending anymore. He had his hand on his pistol, and only wished he’d ignored the damn email that’d said it wasn’t a combat mission. 

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Jensen’s lips twitched. 

Always had a dark sense of humor, hadn’t he. It used to drive Jim crazy. But now, he got it. Life like this, you had to laugh, or you’d end up a broken wreck. The VTOL shuddered, and Jim’s stomach dropped. 

“What the hell was that?” Jim stood, peering through the window to where the pilot was. Or where the pilot should’ve been.

“Fuck.” 

He turned back to Jensen, who’d already sprung into action, digging under the seats where the parachutes should be. He dragged one out, turning it over in his hands.

“There something wrong?” Stupid question, of course there was something bloody wrong. But Jensen had good instincts, and it could always get worse. So he waited as Jensen extended a blade as easy as breathing, and sliced open the bag. A sheet of fabric spilled onto the blood. It definitely wasn’t a parachute.

“Stuffed to make them took real, but they won’t work.”

“Fuck,” Jim said again. 

The VTOL lurched to the side, and Jim was thrown against Jensen as they slammed into the far well. He could hear an alarm going off in the cockpit, and reached for the door. Jensen grabbed his arm and shook his head.

“Rocket launcher. Only a glancing blow, must’ve been thrown off by the storm.” 

Jim didn’t even bother to swear this time, just pulled himself to his feet and held out a hand for Jensen. No point in even trying to fly it if they were just going to be shot down, not when neither of them had piloting skills worth mentioning. “Got any ideas?”

“Do you trust me?” He didn’t let go of Jim’s arm.

“With my life.”

“Then hang on.” 

Jensen overrode the door to the VTOL before Jim could ask what he meant, then grabbed Jim’s arm, settling it around his back. He got the message, and held Jensen in a mockery of a hug. Jensen was warmer than he’d expected. But then the augs weren’t metal, not really. All complex polymers and alloys, and countless carefully engineered parts to meld them seamlessly with the human body, to make them as much a part of Jensen as if he’d been born with them. As he tucked his head against Jensen’s neck, he felt the scrape of his beard on his cheek, and tried not to dwell on how much it matched up with the dreams he’d like to forget. Then Jensen threw them both into the storm. 

The wind was knocked out of Jim, from the shock of falling, the storm, just the suddenness of it all. It wasn’t the first time he’d leapt out of an aircraft, far from it. But it was the first time he’d done it in nothing but a suit, clutching a man he sure as hell hoped had the augs to keep them both alive. The seconds passed, dragging on as the storm raged around them. Then bright light flared, and Jim held on tighter as they slowed, Adam lifting his arms to balance them as best he could before they hit the ground and tumbled into a snowbank.

It was almost warm in the snow, after the biting cold of the air. But it wouldn’t stay warm, not unless he started to freeze to death. He struggled for the surface, and felt a metal hand brush against his face, then dig further to grab his shoulder, pulling him free. 

On the ground, the winds weren’t as harsh, but it was still bloody cold. There had to be some sort of heat generated by the augs, because Jensen seemed unruffled, scanning their surrounding without the slightest shiver. Jim edged closer to Jensen. It wasn’t about whatever he might feel. It was survival, plain and simple. And that meant he couldn’t let his feelings get in the way of what he needed to do.

“Look, Jensen. I’m not dressed for this. You have some way of generating heat?” Strictly business. He kept his face blank while Jensen turned to him, confusion marring his expression. Then he took in the way Jim was shivering, and with only a second’s hesitation, pulled him into hug.

Pride be damned. Jim buried his nose against the crook of Jensen’s neck, and took a deep breath, savoring the warmth. It wasn’t as awkward as it should be, one of Jensen’s arms wrapped carefully around his back, the other rubbing circles in his spine. But it was just the need to survive, nothing else. And they had bigger problems. So after a moment, he lifted his head, and said, “Report, Agent.”

“I see him on the Wayfinder. He’s close. And heavily armed.” 

“Right,” Jim said. “And we aren’t.” It only took him a second to come to a conclusion. “Leave me here, I’ll try and keep out of sight. Think you can sneak up on him?”

“You’re going to freeze to death.” The arms around his back tightened. Just like in London, ignoring the damn order, trying to save him instead. 

“We’re both going to die if someone doesn’t take him down, and all I have is a pistol and no visibility in the damn storm. I’m a liability, Jensen. And you’re my best agent.” He pulled away, and Jensen reluctantly dropped his arms. The storm was even worse now, the heat quickly fading, but Jim held firm. Jensen needed to focus, not to worry about him. “I trust you. Go.”

For a moment, it looked like he was about to say something else, one hand held out to Jim. Then he let it drop, and darted into the storm. 

One minute passed, then another. Jim hunkered down in the snowbank they’d fallen into, anything to get out of the wind, all while he strained his eyes for any sign of Jensen or their assailant. Every time the wind shifted the snow he tensed, looking for signs of a fight, a shot. Anything.

He shivered, and tried not to think about Jensen. Better to focus on what’d happened, and why. London, it had to be, and Jensen knew more than he’d let on, far more than he wanted to say. Not that Jim thought he’d known about this attack. Jensen wasn’t like that. He’d never put someone in danger just to get a lead, to provoke a response. If anything he’d do the opposite, not make the necessary sacrifice. Abandon the mission to help one man, and damn the consequences. Something he’d do for anyone. But it didn’t stop him from remembering the pain in his eyes, the desperate fear as he held the antidote to Jim’s lips. The way he’d shrugged off Jim’s questions in the aftermath. The wind kicked up. Snowflakes caught in his eyelashes, and he hugged his jacket closer, not that it did much. He really hoped Jensen found the bastard soon. He blinked, and a hulking black form appeared on the horizon. 

He should really learn to be damn careful about wishes. 

Cursing under his breath, Jim reached for his pistol. It’d be pathetic against this beast of a man, decked out in high tech body armor. Maybe even an aug, though he couldn’t tell at this distance. But if he was going down, he was going down fighting. And he’d always been a good shot.

As he lifted the pistol, Jensen materialized behind the man, yanking his arm and throwing him to the ground with superhuman strength and skill. Jim’s breath caught at the sight, and for a moment, he thought it’d worked. Another impossible battle, fought and won by Adam Jensen. He’d rarely had the chance to see Jensen in action, to admire how his body flowed in combat, flesh and metal working together to crush any obstacle. He met Jim’s eyes, and frowned, beginning to walk towards him. Probably concerned about the bloody cold, when that was the least of their worries. 

Then Jim saw the snow shift, and the hulking man rise behind him.

“Adam! Behind you!” The warning was torn away by the wind, and Jensen turned a second too late. The brute backhanded him, sending him flying into the snow. 

Jim’s vision narrowed, and he sprang from the snowbank, running and sliding down the slope. The man didn’t turn, his entire focus on Jensen lying prone in the snow. He was saying something, but his words were muffled by the storm. And it didn’t matter anyway. What mattered was the shot. There. An outcropping, some protection from the wind while Jim lined it up. Only seconds to make it. But he was one of the best.

A gust of wind threw him off, and Jim cursed as a sharp blade extended from the man’s arm, slashing at Adam as he rolled out of the way. Jim swallowed down his panic. This was why you didn’t get involved with your team. If he couldn’t keep his calm, Adam was dead for sure. He deliberately didn’t check for blood on the snow. Just focused on the back of the man’s head. The man stilled, readying his own gun.

Jim pulled the trigger.

A spray of red, and his target dropped like a stone, collapsing half on top of Jensen. Jim rushed forward, stumbling over the drifts. It was blind recklessness. There might be another thug, just waiting to creep out. Or a sniper, using him as a distraction. But Adam had said there was only one, and Adam might be bleeding out right now. 

He shoved the man aside, and almost collapsed in relief when Jensen slowly began to get to his feet. His tacvest was a mess, a ragged line cut clean through it. Hard to tell without it off how deep the wound was, but Jensen was standing. Not fatal, and that was all that mattered for now.

“There’s a monitoring station he was using near here. I trailed him to it.” Jensen tried to take a step, then gasped and staggered. Before he could fall, Jim was there, arm slung around his waist.

“We’ll take it slow. You sure you can walk?” He kept his voice neutral. Jensen was a good agent, but he was also the kind of agent who just didn’t stop, even when he should. Jim knew the type. He was the type. So he knew the answer before he asked.

“Yeah,” Jensen said through gritted teeth. “Not much we can do out here anyway.”

The walk towards the station was agonizing. The wound might not be fatal, but it was clearly painful, even with the aug enhanced healing that had to be happening. At least with Jensen leaning on him, it kept some of the cold at bay. So they moved forward, step by step. Walk or die, and neither of them was going to lie down and die. 

Finally, they reached the station, a small building tucked against the side of a rocky outcropping, partially shielded from elements. Jensen was leaning heavily against him, his breathing shallow. Why wasn’t he healing? Damn, Jim hoped there was some sort of first aid kit inside. When they reached the door, Jim hit the button, but it just beeped and remained stubbornly shut.

“Let me,” Jensen said, his words oddly slurred. Blood loss? But Jim swore, he’d read the specs. The health implant should be fixing it. He shouldn’t be this bad. Maybe the cut was worse than it’d looked. 

The door beeped again, and switched to green. They staggered through, Jim immediately making a beeline for a bench across the room and leaving Jensen sitting on it. 

“Stay put. That’s an order, agent.”

Jensen just nodded, his head lolling against the back wall. Not a single hint of argument, and if Jim hadn’t had a reason to worry before, he did now. He ducked into the next room, heading immediately for a line of storage bins. Inside was everything you’d need to survive in the mountains, including, thank fuck, a first aid kit.

When he went back to the entryway, Jensen was gone. So not as bad as he’d seemed, and just as stubborn as ever. It’d almost be a relief, if not for the trail of blood he’d left behind him.

After a minute of searching, first through a monitoring room, then a spartan bedroom, Jim found Jensen in a small bathroom. The ruined tacvest was gone, discarded on the floor, and Jensen was leaning against the sink, hands wrapped around the rim. The water was running, but Jensen wasn’t touching it. Just standing there, bleeding on the floor.

“What about stay put was unclear?” 

He didn’t even look up.

“Since when do I listen to orders?” He tried to turn, then. But Jim was way ahead of him, arm already around his waist when his legs buckled. 

Jensen’s breath was hot and painful in his ear. Probably not a good idea to move him back to the main room, and not a lot of options for seating in here. But the shower was on the bigger side, lavish for such a remote location. It’d do.

“Into the shower, I’ll clean it. Might have to stitch it up.” 

He slowly set Jensen on the ground, then grabbed a wet towel sitting next to the sink, and began to dab at the wound. It was long, but it wasn’t deep, the blade only dealing a glancing blow. It shouldn’t be effecting Jensen this much. It wouldn’t cause Jim this much trouble, and he didn’t have a Sentinel aug.

As he wiped away a smear of dried blood near Jensen’s heart, he noticed something else. A tiny puncture wound. 

“What the hell is that?”

Jim watched as Jensen’s head fell back, and his eye shields flicked open. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and his eyes fell shut. The wound, he needed to keep cleaning it. But instead he reached out. And he’d swear, he meant to reach for Jensen’s shoulder. Some comfort from the pain. But instead his knuckle’s slid over Adam’s cheek, lingering there too long before moving to cup the back of his neck. 

“You know, we never talk about London,” Adam said, his voice even more rasping than usual, like he was choking on glass. Or blood, and fuck, it better not be blood. 

“This is not the time, Adam. What happened? Why aren’t you healing?”

Adam ignored him. “I didn’t think much of you, for a while. Thought you were in Manderley’s pocket. Maybe worse. But you’re a good man, Jim.” He reached up, wrapping his hand around Jim’s wrist. His grip was too weak.

“Don’t you dare try to give me your dying words.”

Adam laughed, the coughed. “Turnaround’s fair play, isn’t it?”

“You’re right about that. Which means I’m going to fix you up, and you’re going to be fine. Now tell me what that is.”

Jim didn’t know why he was even surprised when Adam ignored him again, reaching for the hand that held the towel, and pulling it from him. Then he took Jim’s hand in his, and brought it to his lips. 

“If I had to be shot down with anyone, I’m glad it was you.”

He opened his eyes. And damn, those eyes. Pain, always pain, but something else underneath. It’d been growing since London. And it still couldn’t happen. Of all the ridiculous romantic gestures—

“Adam,” Jim said. He didn’t pull his hand away. 

“I don’t know what it was. Something like the Orchid, maybe. If it is, then I’ll be fine.” He snorted. “Surprised I haven’t passed out yet.”

“This isn’t funny, Adam. The Orchid will kill you, you said—”

“Won’t kill me. It doesn’t work on me. My genetics, they’re different. So maybe I’ll get lucky again.”

“Damn it, Adam. What can I do?”

“Nothing,” Adam said. Then his eyes slid shut, and he sagged against the wall. 

“Shit.” Jim shook Adam, but he didn’t stir. Still breathing, his chest slowly rising and falling. At least the blood flowing from the wound had slowed to a crawl. “Shit, shit, shit.”

But panic got you and your men killed. Jim had learned that young, saw the commanders who couldn’t handle it when things went south. It didn’t matter what he might feel for Adam. Or what Adam might feel in return, what some part of him had hoped for, with the smiles, the lingering glances, the way things had changed since London. All that mattered were the facts. Jensen was unconscious, but stable. He thought he had a chance to survive. And even if Jim could contact emergency services, more likely than not it’d be a kill squad in that VTOL. 

And that meant all he could do was clean Jensen up, get him into bed, and hope his luck held. So he picked up the towel in shaking hands, and began to clean the wound. 

“You know, I had a dream like this once. Only with a lot less blood. I liked that better. But you never did do what I wanted.” It was easier, talking to Jensen when he couldn’t respond. He considered the shower, whether it would be worth cleaning Jensen up more. In his state, bed seemed more important. He cut the spray, then grabbed the bandages from the kit, wrapping them as best he could around Jensen’s chest. 

Jensen proved harder to lift as a dead weight. Jim finally settled on a fireman’s carry as his best option. There didn’t seem to be any damage beyond the strange puncture and the cut. Hopefully, it didn’t make things worse. Lurching back into the main room, he set Jensen as carefully as he could on the only bed, then pressed a hand against his forehead. 

In contrast to the heat from before, Jensen now felt cool, clammy. Another bad sign, his body shutting down. Or his augs, not that there was a whole lot of difference with someone that heavily augmented. And if his augs were shutting down, that’d explain why the Sentinel hadn’t healed him. 

He brushed damp hair back from Adam’s brow. And not for the first time, thought about regrets. He’d had enough of them. Not spending enough time with Neil, and the kids. His marriage falling apart. And now…he was right. He was right to have never acted, never said anything to Adam. Even if Adam welcomed it, it’d be an abuse of power, and a distraction neither of them needed. 

But right now, they were hundreds of miles from anything. And Adam might be dying, his body temperature falling as some engineered monstrosity slithered through his veins. So he crawled in bed next to Adam, pulled him against his chest, then tugged the blankets over them. Whatever heat he could give, he would. If this was all that he could do, then he’d do it. His fingers lingered over the bandages, like touch alone could knit the wound closed. Under them, Adam’s chest still rose and fell.

“I never really understood you. Always thought you were arrogant. Reckless. That you had something to prove. I’ve seen a lot of hot shot agents in my day. And after the aug incident, if you had something to prove, hell, I couldn’t really blame you. But it also meant your were a loose cannon. Someone I couldn’t trust, even if my gut told me I should.” 

Adam stirred, and for a moment, Jim held his breath. But he just leaned back against Jim, seeking warmth. Or more than warmth. Comfort. Companionship. Shit.

“But that’s not it. I know that now. You’re trying to save the bloody world, all on your own. And one man can’t do that. I don’t care how crazy your augs are, what you’ve seen, what you think you know.”

He shut his eyes, burying his face in Adam’s hair, still damp and smelling faintly of sweat. 

“So Adam. You wake up, we’re going to talk. We make a good team. I think you know that. And—” The words caught in his throat, habit shoving them aside. But no. Adam was unconscious. They were stranded in the Alps, who knew what after them. If there was a time to come clean, it was now. “I care about you, Adam. I don’t really know how it happened. Kind of crept up on me, and now.” Jim took a deep breath. “Maybe we could get that drink.”

Adam wouldn’t remember this, and that was for the best. But for once, it was good to get it off his chest. And despite the stress, the worry, he somehow managed to sleep, with Adam firm against him.

-

When Jim woke, the bed was cold. For a moment, he felt only sick dread, before realizing what it meant. Jensen was gone, which meant he’d gotten up on his own. That, or someone had taken him, but in that case he doubted he’d be alive. So he slung his legs over the edge, and went in search of Jensen. 

He found Jensen in a small side room filled with consoles. The monitoring the station was named for, presumably. All blank, except the one in the center that Jensen was looking at intently. He hadn’t bothered with a shirt, and for just a moment, Jim just stared. Traced his eyes over Adam’s back, the smooth skin flowing into sleek black augs. He’d taken off the bandages, which meant the Sentinel must be working again. 

Then Jensen turned, and ran a hand through his hair.

“You look like shit,” Jim said. His hair was a mess, and dark rings circled his still uncovered eyes.

“You’re not looking to hot yourself.” Jensen’s lips twitched into a smile. 

Despite it all, Jim returned it, and crossed the room to Jensen.

“Sentinel finally kick in?” His arm brushed Adam’s as he drew up next to him. Adam didn’t pull away, and he desperately tried not to read anything into it. He’d already crossed way more lines than he ever should have. Best to leave the confessions behind him. Focus on the mission. 

“Yeah. I was trying to see if I could find any info on whatever the hell was stopping it.” 

“And?”

“Not a damn thing. It really does look like it’s just here for monitoring. Weather and air traffic, mainly.” He swiped a hand over the console. Exactly what he said, and not even anything to identify who owned the station, why it was here. 

“Useful if you’re planning an attack.” 

“But why? We were targeted specifically. And even if that were the case, it’s not the most efficient assassination attempt.”

“Everything’s changed, since London. No, before London. They probably wanted to make it look like an accident. VTOL goes down in a storm. They send in their own agents, who falsify the reports. Easy enough.”

Jensen shook his head. “It just doesn’t add up.”

Jim privately agreed. And wanted to know as much as Jensen did. Not just why, but why now. But they needed contacts, access to information they wouldn’t have here. A setup as mysterious as Dubai, as London. People he thought he could trust working against him. None of it made sense. The more he knew, the less he understood. He was starting to see why Adam hadn’t trusted him. Who could you trust, when the whole world seemed to be turning against you?

“We’ll figure it out later. Right now, we need to plan our next move. There any communications?” 

“Yes, but you can be sure they’re not secure.”

Options. They were running so damn thin on them. If they couldn’t contact anyone to get lifted out of here, that left them only one.

“So, Jensen. How do you feel about mountain climbing?”

-

Jensen was eying the equipment dubiously, and Jim tried not to laugh. Give Jensen a city, an abandoned warehouse, an aug extremist base, and he’d tackle it with gusto. But apparently nature wasn’t his strong suit.

“I grew up in Detroit,” he said defensively when Jim pointed it out. “And the handful of camping trips we took were pretty tame. Michigan isn’t exactly mountainous.” 

“Well, good thing for you that it’s a hobby of mine. And the equipment’s all here. If the weather clears up, might even be fun. I’ve always wanted to hike the Alps.”

“If you say so.” Clearly not convinced, but then he didn’t need to be.

The weird thing was, despite their dire circumstances, Jim was feeling almost giddy. All the suspicions, all the bureaucratic bullshit, it was almost freeing to have a clear enemy, and the open air awaiting. Nobody he could trust but Adam, and Adam he trusted completely. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Jim looked up in confusion. “Sorry? Unless you’re about to tell me you set this whole thing up, I’m not sure what you’ve done wrong.”

“I dragged you into this. You have people that care about you. A life.”

Jim couldn’t help the bark of bitter laughter. An ex-husband he couldn’t talk to without yelling, and kids he never saw. What a life. 

“I wouldn’t have anything without you.” 

Adam stilled, then shook his head. “More luck than anything. That I had the antidote. That I was there.”

“You could’ve kept it in reserve.” Should’ve kept it in reserve, like Jim had ordered. But he couldn’t bring himself to regret what Adam had done now. “You didn’t. That counts for something.”

But Adam still didn’t look convinced. He really did think everything was his fault, didn’t he? Weight of the world on his shoulders, and it was too much for any man to bear, no matter what crazy tech he had stuffed in his body. Jim sighed, and went over to Adam, clasping his shoulder in a gesture he hoped came across as friendly, and nothing else. 

“You did everything you could. More. You can’t win them all. That’s why when you do, it counts.” 

“I recognize a pep talk when I’m getting one.” 

Despite the dismissal, he seemed lighter, his eyes a little brighter. It was all Jim could do not to reach out, to show Adam he wasn’t as alone as he thought. His hand tightened on Adam’s shoulder. Could he feel it, through the augs? Would there be a difference if Jim slid his hand up further, to touch his neck like he had the night before? 

“Jim,” Adam said.

He was staring. What had he been saying? It didn’t seem to matter now. Somehow he’d moved closer than he’d thought, or maybe it was Adam who’d moved, drawn into his orbit. What Adam had said the night before, what Jim had said after, while Adam slept and Jim held him like they were more than director and agent. It’d broken something between him. A wall they both needed. It was crumbling, and Jim wasn’t sure he could shore it up. Wasn’t sure he wanted to. 

“It’s late,” Jim said. “We should rest. Get our strength back. Head out tomorrow.” He didn’t pull away.

“When this is done, when we get back—” Jensen frowned, and his eye shields snapped back into place. 

Jim didn’t even hesitate, crossing the room to the sniper rifle he’d found in one of the lockers. He picked it up, then turned to Jensen. “Trouble?”

“They must’ve landed out of range. Or we would’ve heard them.” 

Turning back to the storage locker, he grabbed a tacvest and threw it to Jensen. Not as nice as the one he’d had, but it’d do in a pinch.

“Any high points?”

“There’s roof access out back.”

“Good. I’ll head up. You sneak around behind. Nothing reckless, we don’t have the numbers for a frontal assault.”

Jensen nodded, then vanished. All business again. For the best. They both needed to keep their heads, now more than ever. Whatever it was between them, whatever air they needed to clear, it could wait.

The roof access was just where Jensen had said, and even better, the roof had a concrete barrier around it. Cover and concealment were exactly what he needed now. Time to get an idea of their numbers, their positions, if they had snipers of their own. It was almost comfortable, heading into battle like this. A clear enemy, an ally he trusted, and nothing but the long barrel of the rifle between him and his goal. Simple, in the way nothing else was. Not anymore. 

Unlike the brute from before, this group was smart enough to wear white, and to approach with caution. Mercs, probably, and well-trained. Maybe ex-Belltower, like so many thugs for hire. They might not know Jim and Jensen had made it, but they were treating it as if they had. Smart. Which was a damn shame. They could use some dumb enemies right now. But from their lack of panic, Jensen hadn’t revealed himself yet. They might suspect something was up, but they didn’t know. And that meant he still had the element of surprise on his side. 

He stared down the scope over the edge, trying to get a better look at the group. There only seemed to be four approaching the building, armed with standard assault rifles and body armor. Nothing that should be too tough for them to take down. And that meant there had to be more lurking elsewhere. Jim scanned the ridges behind them, eyes catching on a pair stone outcroppings. Looking down the scope again, he spotted another two mercs. Shit. 

Jensen,” he muttered into his comm. “Sniper and a guy with the rocket launcher in the heights. Don’t engage until I take them out.”

“Got it.” 

Jim spared a moment to hope Jensen would listen. He should listen, it was only logical. He’d be a sitting duck if Jim didn’t remove the other two. But with Jensen, he just never knew. And even the best laid plans never survived first contact with the enemy.

“Be safe, Adam.”

“You too, Jim.”

Jim cursed himself for slipping up, the heat of battle not the time for first names, and all the intimacy that implied. But there wasn’t the time to fret about it now. He’d have to take them out in quick succession, or one of them would have a chance to get off a shot. The rocket launcher had to go first. The sniper he had cover from, but the rocket launcher could take out the wall, and a chunk of the building with it. He lined up his shot, took a breath, then fired.

It wasn’t arrogance to say he was one of the best snipers out there. But even the best couldn’t account for everything. At just the wrong moment the merc bent down, and the shot sailed over his head. Fuck. He lined up another shot. Now or never. 

“Jim, get down!” 

He dropped below the wall as a shot sailed over his head. Too late, the rocket launcher now in play and the sniper aiming for him. He’d have to keep low, try to get another vantage point. The bare expanse between the low wall and the stairs seemed endless. A perfect chance for either of them to pick him off before he ever had a chance to make it. But he’d survived worse odds before. He prepared to run.

Heard a shout.

“Fuck, it’s the aug!” 

He didn’t even look, just set the rifle on the wall again and aimed, taking down the sniper while he was still focused on Jensen. As the merc went down, Jim spared a glance at the scene below. As he’d expected, Jensen was cutting through the thugs, a blur of black and red against the pure white snow. They wouldn’t have a chance. 

But neither would Jensen, if he didn’t take down the man with the rocket launcher. He looked back to the outcropping. He had his shot, only seconds to make it before he fired. His finger tensed on the trigger, sweat cold on his brow as his vision narrowed down to a point, heart thudding in his chest. Then he pulled, and the man went down.

Just after he fired the rocket.

Jim dropped the rifle, sprinting for the stairs and flinching as he heard the sound of an explosion. It didn’t meant Adam was dead. His augs, there had to be something, speed and agility far beyond a normal man. He’d escape the blast radius in time. He had to.

As Jim reached the front of the building, he saw only blackened earth and the twisted body of the mercs who’d been caught in the blast. And at the center, Adam. 

Alive.

He ran forward, tripping over a fallen assault rifle in his haste before stumbling back to his feet. Adam was standing slowly when Jim reached him, nothing but a few scratches on his face. Jim grabbed both Adam’s arms, shaking him as terror and relief warred in his chest.

“How the hell did you survive that?” Because it should’ve been impossible. He’d seem the specs for Adam’s augs, there was nothing that would let him survive a direct hit from a rocket. 

“It’s a long story. Some experimental stuff. It…might not have made it into my file.” The eye shields slid back, revealing bright green eyes awash with concern. “How are you? They didn’t hit you? I saw you miss—”

“And then you disobeyed orders,” Jim said. “Again.”

Adam laughed, the giddy sort of laugh that only came in the aftermath of absolute terror. “You have a problem with my conduct, sir?”

In hindsight, he might claim it was the adrenaline of the fight. The near death experience, and the fear of losing Adam. The build up of everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. But it’d been building longer than that. Since London, since…he didn’t even know anymore. Didn’t care. Adam was smiling. So Jim kissed him.

Adam tensed, but as Jim made to pull away, his mouth opened, tongue running tentatively over Jim’s lips. It tasted like shit, to be honest. Neither of them had exactly been the model of hygiene, too exhausted and stressed. They were both sweaty, and dirty, and he could feel blood where he’d lifted a hand to cup Adam’s cheek. But at that moment, it felt like the best damn kiss of his life. 

And it was still the wrong thing to do.

So he stepped back. Put some distance between them. It killed him, to leave Adam looking at him like that. Confusion, rejection, and then finally resignation. Like a dog that’d been kicked so many times it didn’t even bother biting anymore. Then his expression shuttered, and he knelt down beside one of the dead mercs, and began rummaging through his gear.

-

They completed the work in silence. No identification on any of them, but then Jim hadn’t expected any. If anyone found them, they were just random mercs, or criminals. Not that there was much difference, these days. And it left no way to attach them to the powerful people who’d sent them. 

He almost suggested they leave now, but it was only a few hours until dark. They wouldn’t get far, and if they couldn’t put some serious distance between them and the station, they were worse off out there than in here. Jensen managed to hack the monitoring systems to alert them if there was anyone in the vicinity. And that was it.

“You can take the first shower,” Jim said. 

They’d both fallen into silence, exhaustion and the mess Jim had made of their relationship stopping anything they might say. All the preparations were made. They were leaving tomorrow. Nothing else to do but wait.

“You know, I thought—” Jensen said. He was across the room from Jim, sitting on a hard metal bench. “Never mind.” He stood, and began to walk towards the shower, shoulders slumped. He hadn’t put the eye shields back up, and as he passed Jim their eyes met.

Jim looked away first. 

The gear needed inventorying. There were maps he had to check, to find their best route. Weapons he should test for any unpleasant surprises. But all Jim did was sit there, letting his head fall back against the wall and listening to the sound of running water. Extreme circumstances made emotions run high. And sure, he was attracted to Adam. Why the hell wouldn’t he be? A handsome man, a brilliant combatant, a loyal ally. Funny, though Jim was loathe to admit it sometimes. Maybe in a different time, a different place, they could’ve had something. 

A thud, followed by swearing, and Jim shot to his feet, shoving open the bathroom door without thinking. Something else wrong with the augs, or an injury Adam had hidden—

He realized his mistake when he saw Adam stepping out of the shower, looking perfectly fine. No, better than fine, like something out of one of those old ads selling the shining augmented future. So much of his body was augmented, it should look strange, uncanny. But instead, he was…beautiful. 

Shit.

“Are you…okay?” He should leave now, apologize. Adam had just slipped, because as physically flawless as he sometimes seemed, he was still human. 

“Fine,” Adam said, his expression unreadable.

His eyes darted towards the towel, and he took a step forward. Jim didn’t move, caught here with another line crossed. Another damn mistake. He didn’t need to wait for the wall to crumble, he was tearing it down. 

“Sorry, I’m on a bit of a hair trigger. I’ll just—”

A hand caught his wrist as he was leaving, grip light enough for Jim to break with ease. Slowly, he turned back to Adam. 

“We can’t. It was a mistake.”

“You sure about that?” Adam said. Not moving closer. Not pulling away. 

“No.”

When Adam kissed him, it was tentative, almost sweet. Like the kiss pressed to his knuckles yesterday, while Adam lay bleeding on the floor. Was he the sort to bring his partner flowers? Make them breakfast? It didn’t line up with the hard exterior, the sarcasm, the stubbornness and the low level hostility. But that wasn’t all Adam was. Jim had seen those eyes, felt the brush of fingers so gentle, doing what he could to save him. He still didn’t know all of who Adam was. 

He wanted to find out.

Water soaked into his shirt as Adam pressed closer, and the droplets from his beard shook free, running down Jim’s throat. A hand slipped under his shirt, sliding up his back and using all that deadly precision to rub gentle circles in skin. With everything that happened, it should be more desperate, not the gentle tug of a hand on the hem of shirt, the fingers running up his chest as Adam pulled it free. He took one of Adam’s hands in his, admiring for a moment the way the gold accents caught the light, the way the fingers twitched as he brought Adam’s hand to his lips, mirroring his actions from the day before. 

“I’m getting a hell of a lot of mixed signals here,” Adam said, low and amused. 

“Things changed, in London. They shouldn’t have.” He met Adam’s eyes, and willed him to understand. Only if he wanted this.

“Lots of things happened that shouldn’t have. This isn’t one of them.” He dragged his hands down Jim’s sides, then stepped back towards the shower, waiting for Jim. 

And maybe they shouldn’t do this, with the world going to hell around them. But this was something he could hold onto, at the end of everything. So Jim shed the rest of his clothes, and followed Adam as he stepped back into the shower.

“I haven’t done this in a while.”

“Welcome to the club.” 

His breath caught as Adam pressed him under the spray, back hitting the wall. Too hard, but he didn’t care, not with Adam running a hand through his hair, kissing him like that. He groaned as Adam shifted closer, their cocks rubbing together. His hand ran down Adam’s back, lower, pressing into his arse where the augs melted into it, flesh crossed with metal and polymer. And it wasn’t strange at all, the way Adam ground against him, moaned into his lips. It was…human. 

Adam pulled back slightly, but only to reach a hand between them, gripping both their cocks. It was rough, almost clumsy, entirely unlike anything he’d seen from Adam before. His armor cracked, open and vulnerable. If Jim left now, it wouldn’t destroy him. A man like Adam endured. But it’d be another scar over so many more, one more knife in an already bleeding heart. And fuck if he could do that now.

Lips pressed against his throat, and he inhaled the scent of Adam’s clean hair, bucked into his touch, felt Adam shudder in response. Hiding, but Jim had to see. He brought one hand up to Adam’s head, tilted it back to meet his eyes, wide and so bright. 

“Stay with me.” He didn’t even know what he was asking, but Adam nodded like he understood. Maybe he did. 

He was torn between the desire to kiss Adam again, and to not look away, mesmerized by the small alterations in expression as Adam continued to stroke, and the choked off noise when Jim added his own hand. In the end, Adam made the choice for him, mouth hot on his as he came, then sagged against Jim, languid and heavy, his hand still wrapped around Jim’s cock. Only a few more strokes, and Jim followed him, fingers clenching tight in his hair. 

They just stood there for a minute, letting the water pound down, washing away all the shit they bathed in every day. The corruption, the hatred, people tearing each other while distant uncaring powers pulled the strings. The lies, and deception. For your own good, Jim might’ve said. And Adam might say the same. A lot between them, still left unsaid. But it didn’t matter, not right now.

Adam pulled back, nudging him with his knee. “Turn around.”

Jim did it without thinking, heard the pop of a cap, then hands massaging shampoo into his hair.

“I can do that myself, you know.”

“I know.”

What the hell. They’d just had sex, and if Adam wanted to do this, Jim wasn’t going to object. He closed his eyes, savoring the sensation of Adam’s fingers against his scalp, just the perfect amount of pressure, high end tech turned to simple pleasure. Adam guided his head under the water, and he let it wash over him, for a moment just enjoying the warmth.

Then he turned, met Adam’s eyes. He looked almost…shy. Scared. So Jim did the only thing he could. He brought their lips together again.

Hoped that was enough.

-

Waking up the next morning was a pain in the arse, and the best damn thing Jim’d had in forever. Adam’s head was pillowed on his chest, arm slung around his waist. He’d ever pegged Adam for a cuddler, but he couldn’t say he minded. He only wish he didn’t have to wake him. But…just a moment longer. He traced a finger around the corner of Adam’s eye, where skin met aug, and marveled at how much younger Adam looked when he slept. And again, Jim felt a pang of guilt. Not much to do for it now.

Adam’s eyes opened, and his lips curled into a smile Jim hadn’t seen before. Not sarcastic, wry, or laced with some bitter edge. Just…happy. 

“You know, watching people sleep is kind of creepy.” 

“More creepy than sleeping with your decade younger subordinate?” Jim groaned, covering his face with an arm. “I’m prime midlife crisis material here.”

“I’m not your secretary.” He felt Adam pull away, and turned onto his side to see him stand. Still naked, still bloody gorgeous. Damn.

“No, my secretary would do what I said,” Jim retorted, then got to his feet with only a small wince of pain. The years were catching up to him, no matter how much he tried to keep in shape. And there was still the mountain climbing ahead. 

But despite it all, he was looking forward to it. Once they got back to civilization, he still didn’t know what he’d do, who he’d contact. But if the attack was what he thought, he didn’t have a quiet retirement waiting. Back in Interpol, he’d have to constantly watch his back, waiting for the knife concealed in the hand of a smiling bureaucrat. But for as long as it took them to get back, it’d be just him, Adam, and the expanse.

“You know, I always wanted to hike the Alps,” Jim said an hour later as they set out from the station, heading towards Italy.

“Next time, leave me in Prague,” Adam said, squinting at the blinding snow before shaking his head, his eye shields sliding shut. Then he sighed. “It really is beautiful, isn’t it?”

Prague. A solemn reminder of what was waiting when they got back. Conspiracies Jim was only beginning to unravel. Truths he needed to know, that Adam still might not want to tell him. Whatever this was between them, still so new and fragile, and probably a mistake. A warning sign, as the world teetered towards ruin. And yet—

Adam strode ahead, taking to hiking with far greater ease than his earlier reluctance would’ve predicted. Had to be good at everything, didn’t he? He looked back at Jim once, shot him a smile, and then continued onward.

Even everything behind them, everything yet to come, Jim found himself smiling.

“Yeah, it really is.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from "I Found" by Amber Run.


End file.
